Wednesday, September 1

1The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because of which He anointed Me. He sent Me to proclaim good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind;

2to declare the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of recompense, and to comfort all who mourn;

3to give those who mourn in Zion glory instead of ashes, the oil of gladness to those who mourn; the garment of glory instead of a spirit of indifference. They shall be called generations of righteousness, the planting of the Lord for glory.

4They shall build the ancient deserts, raise up those formerly abandoned, and renew the desert cities that laid waste for generations.

5Foreigners shall come and shepherd your sheep, and aliens shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

6but you shall be called priests of the Lord and the ministers of God. You shall eat the strength of nations and be admired because of their wealth.

7So they shall inherit the land a second time, and eternal gladness shall be upon their head.

8For I am the Lord, who loves righteousness and hates robberies of wrongdoing. I will give their labor to the righteous and will make with them an everlasting covenant.

9Their seed and their offspring shall be known among the Gentiles. All who see them shall know these are the seed blessed by God;

7But though a righteous man may die before his time, He shall be at rest.

8For old age is not honored for its length of existence, Nor measured by its number of years;

9But discernment is gray hair for mankind, And a spotless life is the maturity of old age.

10There was once a man pleasing to God and loved by Him, And while living among sinners he was taken up.

11He was caught up lest evil change his understanding Or deceit deceive his soul.

12For envy arising from lack of judgment obscures what is good, And a whirling of desire undermines an innocent heart.

13He was made perfect, For in a short time he fulfilled long years,

14For his soul was pleasing to the Lord; Therefore, He took him early from the midst of evil. Yet peoples saw this but did not understand, Nor take such a thing to heart,

15That the Lord's grace and mercy are with His elect And that He watches over His holy ones.

4And we have such trust through Christ toward God.

5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,

6who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

7But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away,

8how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?

9For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

10For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels.

11For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

1Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,

2for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

4who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

5For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

6who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

7for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

12Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;

13bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

14But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

29'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,

30and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'

31'Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.

33Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

34Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,

35that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

36Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

37'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

38See! Your house is left to you desolate;

39for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' '

16So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

17And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

18'The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

19To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.'

20Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

21And He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'

22So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, 'Is this not Joseph's son?'

27All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

28Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.'